Machine for placing piston rings on pistons



MACHINE FOR PLCING PISTON RINGS ON PISTONS Filed Aug. 28, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ILiD-lwww? ATTORNEY Feb. l0. 1925. 1,525,765

F. A. BRENNER v MACHINE FORPLACING PISTON RINGS ON PISTNS Filed Aug. 28, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ears-3* l N V E TOR Hen/vk A. BEEN/vae TTRNEY A Ul Patented Feb. 10, 1925. l i

UNITED `STATES PATENT o FFilcE.

FRANK AfBRENNER, O'F SOUTH BENI), INDIANA, ASSIGNOR` IO THE STUDEBAKER CORPORATION, 0F SOUTH BEND, INEIANA, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOB PLACING PISTON RINGS ON PIS'INS.

Application filed. August 28, 192.3. Serial- N'o. 659,821.

`To all whom it may concern.'

` Be it known that I, FRANK BRENNER, a citizen ot the United States ol' America,

and resident ot South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph `and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Placing Piston Rings on Pistons, of which the following is a specification. c i

This invention relates to machines for 'use in the assembling of piston-rings on pistons, and the principal object is to provide machine thatwill allow piston-rings to be properly placed on pistons in a quick, accurate, and easy manner and which will be mechanical in operation and easy to operate.

A further object is toprovide a machine having a piston `supporting member and a sleeve adapted to carry a quantity of piston-rings, and means to force the, pistonrings off the end of the sleeve into the grooves provided in the piston to receive the `piston-rings. y s A further object is to provideineans for bringing the grooves in the piston into registry with the end of the sleeve on which the piston-rings are carried so that when the piston-rings are pushed oii the sleeve they will be received in thegrooves. l

A still further object is to provide a piston-ring supportingmember which can be detached from the machine for replacing piston-rings thereon and which is secured to the trame of the machineagainst vertical movement when in assembled position.

Still another object is to provide a pistonring supporting sleeve which has an enlarged end adapted to tit over a piston on which piston-rings are to be placed and which will expand the piston-rings prior to their being placed in the grooves in the piston. y

Further objects, and objects relating to details of manuacture and construction will definitely appear :trom the detailed description to follow. y

I-Ieretot'ore the devices used for placing piston-rings on (pistons have been more or less ot a make-shift nature, making the operation slow and tedious, causing many of the rings to be broken because of too much of the human element entering into the operation, and for other causes. Having this in mind I have invented a device for placing piston-rings on pistons in a quick and accurate manner, the device being essen-V tially mechanical in operation and easy to operate. y

In the accompanying drawings ,which show an embodiment of my present 1nvention:

Figure 1 isa fragmentary sectional side view taken through the center of a machine embodying my present invention, and showing a piston in connection therewith in the operation of having piston-rings applied Y thereto.

drawings, 4l is a `iframe, the upper portion of which is provided with a vertical opening in which a sleeve 5 is adapted to slide. Arackgear 6 1s secured to one side of the sleeve 5 by the screws 7 and a spur gear 8 keyed to the spindle 9 journaled in the frame 1, as clearly shown in Figure 3, meshes with the rack :gear G to move the gear 6 and sleeve 5 kconnected thereto in a` vertical direction, for a purpose which will presently be described. An operating handle 10 secured `by Ithe pin 11 to the end of the spindle 9 is provided with arms or levers12 which can readily be gripped by the operatorto turn the spur-gear 8 and thereby raise or-lower the sleeve 5. A second sleeve 13 having its upper end extending upwardly within the sleeve 5 is held against vertical movement by the removable pin 14 which passes through the trame, 11 and sleeve 13 to retain the sleeve in its fixed position. The sleeve 5 is provided i with a slot 15 to allow the sleeve 5 to move up and down within the frame 4 and without interference with the sleeve 13. The body portion of the sleeve 13 is of slightly smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the free piston rings 16 adapted to be loaded thereon, and its lower end is slightly bulged and recessed to allow a piston 17, which is to receive the rings 16 to slidably enter the same, the sleeve immediately surrounding the piston having relatively thin walls. A cable 18 `secured by the eye 19 to the sleeve 5V extends over the sheave 20 journaled il) the the A1traine 4. adapted Ito receive bracket 21 which -is secured by the Vscrews 22 to the upper portion of the traine et, and passes down over the sheave 23 journaled in the bracket 24 secured bythe screws 25 to the `side of the traine 1. A weight 26 is secured to the tree end ot' the cable 18 by means ot the eye 27, and counterbalances the weight ot' the sleeve Sand rack 6.

Directly below and concentric with the vertical opening in the upper-fpartot the traine 4i in ywhich -the sleeve 5 -is slidably mounted is another vertical opening` 28 in a piston sup porting niieinber Y29 which is 'rotatable and slidable therein. A cani track 30 is formed in the-surface of-fthe member 29, and a roller 31 rotatably mounted on the pin threaded into =the traine 1 surrounding Ithe opening-28'seats in the track 30. The upper end ot the .piston supporting member 29 is torined to receive the lower end of the piston 17 thereon,and :levers or handles 33 secured in tlie ineinber 29 `providefineans tor rotating the saine. lAs before stat-ed,y the sleevefis held in ixedposition -in the traine et by ineans oit the reinovablepin 14e, and the cain track 30 is so' -forined in the piston supportingbinember 29 that v-upon rotation of the ineinber 29 Lbyineans ot the handles 33, the saine canbe lowered sufficiently to Aallow the piston 17 to be placed thereon beneath thesleeve 13. The cani track 30 is formed with four rshort Ihorizontal portions 34, 35, 36laiidq37, corresponding to the-'four grooves Vof the piston 17, and-rotation ot the ineinber 29 will .bring these horizontal portions ot'the track 30fsuccessively in contact with therroller '31, -in-each of which positions the extrei'ne =lower `edge ofthe sleeve 131s flash with the `upper edgevot the corresponding ringgroove in the piston 17. 'Shallow re cesses, or `depressions 38 are provided inthe ineinber 29 in a position corresponding to the horizontal,.portions34:, 35,36 and 37 or' Athe track 30, and a Ydetent 39, norinally pressed inwardly'towards the center of the opening 28 by the spring e110 backed by the plug 41 threaded` into the ytraine surround ing the opening 28, is adapted to enter the recess 38 correspondingto lthe horizontal portion ofthe cani track 30 whichmay be yin contact .with the roller 31, The Epurpose ot the 'recess38rand detent 39 is-to prevent the. piston.supporting ineinber 29 kfrom beingl inadvertently Yinoved when one ofthe horizontal por-tions of tlietrack 30 is incontact with the roller 31. They relation ofthe cain track to lthe piston-ring grooves ofthe ,-piston 1,7 in clearlyishown iiiiFi-gii1e 2.

The operation of the machine is as follows: For convenience lit will be assumed thatva sleeve 13, loaded with piston rings 16, is properlysupported in positionl as shown in Figure 1 andthe .nieinber '129 has been rotated to a point Where the end l2 of the cani track 30 1(clearly shown 'by the developed surface of the inember 29 in Figure 2) and the roller 31 are in contact. As the end 42 oit thebcam track 30 is'the highesi point of the track 30, it will thus be seen that when the member 29 has been rotated soV that the end 42 in the track 30 contacts with the roller 31, the n'ieinber 29 has been lowered to a position which allows the piston 17 to be placed on the member 29. rFhe ineinbcr'29 isthen rotated so that the flat portion 34- ot the cani track 3() comes in contact with the roller 31, the detent 39 dropping .into a recess 38 corresponding to the flat portion'3-l,lthus holding the member 29 in such position that it carries the piston 17 up within-the'recess :toi-ined in the lower part of the sleeve 13, to a point 'where the lower endet-the sleeve 13 is flush with the upper edge 'ot tlie'lowest piston-ring groove inthe piston 17. Thellevers 12, controlling indirectly the -position ofthe sleeve 5, are .then operated to lower the sleeve 5 `(which causes the'p'iston-rings y16 to slideidown the sleeve 13) an amount necessary to force one ring ofi ot fthe `lower end of the 'sleeve 13, and inasmuch as the lower edgeof the sleeve 13 'and upper-edge ofthe lower ring groove are flush, the piston-ring 1G thus torced ofl` of the lower end of the `sleeve 13fcont1'acts rinto -the lower iring groove. The nien'iber 29 is then rotated to bring the flat portion 35 ot the track-30 in contact with the roller 31, the detent 39 acting' as before. This rotation ot the ineinber 29 causes the piston 17 to be lowered an amount necessar \v to bring vthe flower edge ot the sleeve '3 and the upper edge of the next-totl'ie-bottoni ringgroove tlush with each other, and the .levers 1-2 laire again operated to torce oil' another Vriiig 16 lroin the sleeve 13 which dropsinto its groove. The ineinber is then rotated until the portions 3Gvand 37 o'l the track 30 successively come in contact with then-oller 31, at each of which points a ring 161s -forced ott'o't'the sleeve 13into the corresponding groove in the piston 17. As the operations describedhave filled each groove of the piston 17 `witha ring 16, the member 29 is lrotated back until the end 42 again coines in contact with the roller 31, at which point Ithe vloaded vpiston 17 is removed and one without rings replaces it to go through the saine operations.

llVhen all the piston-rings 16onthe sleeve 13 have been used, the ineinber 29 is dropped to itswlowest position, thesleeve is raised to its-highest position, the pin 14k is removed, and then the sleeve 13 lis removed Yand another one loaded with rings16 replaces it, whereupon the operation of placingl the rings on the piston lis repeated.

It will kbe noticeable that -this Adevice is capable of very ft'ast operation, and .that every ring is quickly and accurately liable to occur than in the old hand method Where no sleeve of any sort is used. `In order to obviate any difficulty from this source I prefer, in large production, to have several sleeves 13 constantly loaded with i;'ings and placed in an oven to bring their temperature up to a point Where the stresses developed from spreading the rings over the lower bulged portion of the sleeve 18 is materially reduced, and if thought advisable an electric heating ele-ment such as 43 may be inserted Within the sleeve 13 during the operation of loading rings on pistons, in order to keep the temperature up to a suiiicient degree.

It isevident that formal changes may be made in the speciiic embodiment of the invention described Without departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A device for placing piston rings on pistons, comprising a piston-ring receiving member; a piston Y supporting member; means for causing piston-rings to be forced off of one end of said piston-ring receiving member; and means for bringing said end of said piston-ring receiving member and the edge of a groove in a piston supported on said piston supporting member to a position in which they are flush with each other.

2. A device for placing piston-rings on pistons, comprising a stationary piston-ring receiving member, a piston supporting member adjacent one end of said piston-ring receiving member adapted to be moved to and from the same, and means for forcing piston-rings olf of theend of said pistonrmg receiving member adjacent said piston supporting member.

3. A device for placins` piston-rings on pistons, comprising a sleeve and means for longitudinally moving said sleeve, a second sleeve immovably positioned Within the iirst mentioned sleeve, a piston support adjacent the end of said second sleeve, and means for controlling the position of said piston support.

4. A device for placing piston-rings on pistons, comprising a frame, a sleeve longitudinally slidable in said frame, means for moving said sleeve longitudinally, a pistonring receiving member removably attached to said frame within said sleeve, a supporting `inember axially coincident with said sleeve positioned adjacent one end of said ring receiving member, and means `for controlling the position of said supporting member.

A device for placing piston rings on pistons, comprising a piston-ring receiving member, one end of which is provided With a recess adapted to receive a piston, a supporting member for said piston, means for raising or lowering said piston supporting member whereby the upper edge of the piston-ring grooves in said piston may be brought substantially iiush with the adjacent end of said piston-ring receiving member; and means for forcing piston-rings olf of said adjacent end of said piston-ring re ceiving member into said piston-ring grooves.

G. A device for placing piston-rings on pistons, comprising a frame; a piston-ring receiving member; means for forcing piston-rings oii of one end of said piston-ring receiving member; a piston supporting member adjacent said end, having a. cam track in the surface thereof to providelongitudinal and rotatable movement of said member and a roller engaging said cam track supported by said frame, said cam track being formed to cause a change in longitudinal position of said piston receiving member When the same is rotated.

7. A device for placing pistonrings on pistons, comprising a frame; a stationar7 piston-ring receiving member removably supported in said frame; means for forcing piston-rings oil;1 of said piston-ring receiving member; a piston supporting member adjacent one end of said piston-ring receiving member having a cam track in the surface thereof; a roller engaging said cam track mounted on said frame, said cam track being so formed that rotation of said piston supporting member will bring the upper edge of a` piston-ring groove in a piston mounted thereon flush with the adjacent end of said piston-ring receiving member; and mea-ns for holding said piston supporting member in such position.

8. .A device for placing piston-rings on pistons, comprising a piston-ring receiving member; a piston supporting member; means for forcing piston-rings ofi' of said piston-ring receiving member; means for causing one end of said piston-ring receiving member to become substantially flush With one edge of a groove in a piston supported on said piston supporting member; and means for maintaining the temperature of pistonerings on said piston-ring receiving member above their normal temperature.

9. A device for placing piston-rings on pist-ons, comprising a frame; a sleeve longitudinally slidable rin said iframe, a. rack-gear secured to said sleeve and extending in the direction of the length of the sleeve; a shaft journaled in said frame; a spur gear secured on sla-id shaft and adapted to mesh with said rack gear; means for rotating said shaft; a piston-ring receiving member having its lower end enlarged to receive a piston eX` tending Within said sleeve, and being removablyv secured in said frame; a piston Supporting member positioned adjacent one end of said piston-ring receiving member and axially coincident therewith having a cam track in the n 'surface thereof to provide rotatable and longitudinal movement, and a roller mounted in said frame adapted to seat in said track; said track being so formed 'that rotation of said piston supportin'g member 'will bring the upper edges of the ring grooves in a .piston supported thereon successively to a flush position With the lovver edge of said piston-ring receiving member.

l0. A device for placing piston rings ou pistons, comprising a piston ring receiving member; piston supporting member; means for forcing said piston rings otl' ot' one end of Vsaid piston ring receiving` member; and means for raising and loivering said kpiston supporting member to bring the successive grooves in said piston into position to receive said piston rings.

Signed by me at South Bend, ndiana, this 27th 'dav of August, 1923.

FRANK A. BRENNER. lVtnesses ALFRED Fo'rnnncfiLL, Jr., GEORGE BENNETT. 

